Needle Felting Fairies & Mermaids

My parents constantly act shocked that I aspire to add new, wacky crafts to my list of pleasures, and I'm sure this one tops their list of least likely things they ever would have imagined I'd want to do as an adult. But, there you go. I guess we can't always see the future for our children.

Ella's kindergarten teacher organized an event a few months back for all her class parents to meet the school's handwork teacher. As you might expect, only the moms showed up, but we had such a nice time sitting around gossiping together. The handwork teacher, Miss Laurie, set up the room with foam blocks and felting needles, walked us through the steps to make a basic doll and then let us loose to do with it what we would. I decided to add some wings and make a little 'fairy mother' for Ella, and it has since been one of her prize possessions. The next day, she and I sat down and used some leftover wool to make the little babies she's holding, and Ella was pretty thrilled to pick up a needle and start stabbing away.

We're doing a fund raiser for Ella's class next month, and I tried to get some of the interested moms together to make some little needle-felted crafts to sell. It ended up being a bust, but now I have all the supplies for myself! I worked on this new fairy mother doll and her babes (this time with little wings!), and I'll try my best to part with her. How much do you think I should charge? $25? Is that too much? Too little? I really have no idea what something like this would sell for...

With all my leftover supplies, I've decided to make Ella a little mer-family for her upcoming birthday. I've got the mama mermaid in the works and am on the lookout for some miniature shells to cover her fluffy chest. I think she needs a big, strong merman and a daughter and maybe a merbaby too. I'll take more pictures as they come together...